Treason of the Mind
by AduialLarien
Summary: The battle for Helm's Deep is over, but the repercussions continue to haunt Legolas. Will his guilt bring disaster upon what is left of the Fellowship? (Will eventually be A/L) *REPOST*


Treason of the Mind:  by Aduial and Larien.  Rated PG-13 . . . for now.  Aragorn/Legolas.  We don't own anything--it all belongs to Tolkien and friends (Peter Jackson especially).  Please don't sue--we're too poor.  Reviews are always welcome (rurounielves2@hotmail.com)--contructive criticism about cannon, especially. This takes place after the end of the Two Towers movie but we want to remain as true to cannon as possible.  No flames, por favor.  This is a collaboration fic, so odd-numbered chapters are written by Larien and even-numbered chapters are written by Aduial.  Many, many huge thanks go out to our beta and translator, Angelina, without whom many grammatical errors would have peppered these pages and the Sindarin would not have been, well, Sindarin.

**Chapter One:**

Disturbing Dreams 

_"Your friends are with you, Aragorn."_

_Then he was gone._

Legolas Greenleaf found himself standing alone on the wall at Helm's Deep.  A deep cloud cover prevented the moonlight from shining yet the fortress was eerily lit.  The crunch of stone beneath his feet echoed through the oppressive silence.  Down and across was a single Uruk-hai with a torch, and Legolas automatically notched his bow and took aim.  He knew, somehow, that he must kill this Uruk-hai; kill him immediately.  The Mirkwood Prince loosed his arrow.  The shaft whistled through the air and buried itself to the left of the Uruk-hai.  The ugly creature looked up at the elf and smiled, showing his grotesque yellow teeth.  Legolas quickly notched another arrow and fired.  It landed to the right of the seemingly perfected orc.  The Uruk-hai growled through his smile.  A single flash of lightening ripped through the sky.  The elf narrowed his eyes and quickly let another arrow fly.  To his complete dismay, it landed directly in front of the enemy.  

            Legolas set his jaw.  Slowly, he drew his best arrow out of the quiver.  He examined it carefully, the laughter of the Uruk-hai ringing in his ears.  Satisfied, he slowly notched the arrow and brought the bow up to his face.  The Uruk-hai stopped laughing and growled once more, this time in anticipation.  

            A grim smile flitted across Legolas' face as he aimed.  The arrow was pointed right between the creature's eyes.  Then the Elven archer let his arrow fly.

            The arrow hit its mark perfectly.  The Uruk-hai's eyes went wide.  The harsh smile returned to Legolas' face.  "One," he whispered.

            Suddenly, the Uruk-hai's face began to change.  He skin went from dirty and bloodstained to fair and light.  Yellow eyes melted into blue.  Blonde hair replaced the filthy, matted dreadlocks.

            Legolas' jaw dropped open.  Haldir, the Guardian of the Galadhrim, stood before him with an arrow between his eyes.  "Haldir?" Legolas' voice was strained with shock.

            "Legolas.  What have you done?"  Haldir asked in a monotone.  He sank to his knees.

            The bow slipped from the elf prince's hand.  "I . . . I tried.  I had him in my sight.  He . . ." his voice trailed off.

            A single, trembling hand fluttered to the arrow between Haldir's eyes.  "We trusted you, Legolas, son of Mirkwood.  And now . . ." Haldir's blue eyes went blank and he collapsed completely to the ground.

            Suddenly, Legolas was standing before Haldir.  He dropped to his knees.  "Haldir!"  He cradled the fallen elf.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry," he murmured in Elvish.  "*Im hiraetha, Im hiraetha, Im-"

            _Zzzzzzzzznoch._

The elf blinked.  He was back, on the hills of the Riddemark with Gimli, Aragorn, Theoden, Eomer and Gandalf.  What was left of the Rohan army from Helm's Deep had been halved.  One half had been left behind to protect the women and the children of Rohan.  The other half had followed their king in tracking the Uruk-hai army back to Isengard.  It was the second night of following the enemy army.  Eomer and Theoden were with their men, going around to campfires to talk and boost the general morale of the soldiers.  Legolas thought it was an excellent tactic and Aragorn had agreed.  The Dunadain wanted to be with the Rohan king but he had to mediate between the remainders of the Elven army and the human army.  An elf named Manveri had taken command after Haldir's death and now Aragorn was acting as the go between for Manveri and Theoden.  Legolas marveled at what a natural leader Aragorn was as both Manveri and Theoden took his advice and trusted his judgment implicitly.  Now, however, the heir to the throne of Gondor was getting some much-needed rest and a squad of Elven soldiers stood guard around the large encampment.  It was an ideal situation as elves weren't nearly as prone to falling asleep as men were.  Also, they could detect danger long before even the sharpest of men even knew what hit him.  Gandalf was working as well.  When not advising Theoden, he used his magic to keep Sauruman's spells at bay.  So even in the dead of night, the camp was still busy.

            Legolas sighed and stood up, careful not to wake his two companions.  His gaze rested on what was left of the Fellowship.  Gimli, though loud and annoying and generally abrupt, had proved to be a true friend.  And Aragorn.  His gaze lingered on the heir of Isildur.  The dirt-smudged face was the picture of relaxation.  Legolas' heart began to beat slightly faster.  Blue eyes trailed down the angular jaw to the man's chest and stopped.  The Evenstar pendant glistened brightly in the moonlight.  Legolas felt his heart slow to its normal pace again as he yanked his eyes away.  _That is the end of that, _he thought sardonically.  The other end of his mind chimed in.  _Oh, like last time?  When you gave that wretched thing back to him?_

_            Shut up._

_            You brought it on yourself._

            Legolas shook his head in resignation and walked away.  He needed peace and stillness.  There was a small wood somewhat near the camp.  The Mirkwood prince headed in that direction.  After a few moments he the passed the Elven guards.  They had known he was coming far in advance and merely nodded as he passed.  The sight of the elves, solitary and so few, added to the guilt weighing on Legolas' heart, and he quickly retreated into the woods, making no sound to disturb the silence.  After a few more minutes, he came upon a small stream.  Not wanting to be too far from the army, the prince decided to stop here.  He slowly pulled the quiver of arrows and bow he always carried with him off his back and leaned it against the trunk of the tree.

            An image of the dead Haldir flashed in his mind.  Legolas shuddered.  _I've got to keep my mind occupied.  _The woods were quiet, providing no answer.  Legolas began to pace.  The dream was coming back to him now, in all its horror.  _Stop!  Stop it! _ His mind screamed.  Suddenly, his eyes fell upon the quiver of arrows.  He could see in the moonlight several feathers of the fletching were sticking out at odd angles.  Silently chiding himself (_Legolas, you idiot!)_ he knelt down and began concentrating on repairing the fletching.  The dream began to fade from his mind and Legolas found himself singing an old Elvish lament.

_*"Ai ndagor ed ard hon gwennen,_

_Manan elye etevanne_

_Norie i malanelye?_

_I Valar lumenn' ah vanim-lin,_

_Maltaa-lin ar thalioneth-lin._

_Nai I'ost-in-Namo lumenn' o nomin-lin,_

_Men i u' marth u-ah le."_

            The Mirkwood elf continued in this vein for sometime until he heard a sharp snap.

            Before the blink of an eye, Legolas had his bow strung and pointed in the direction of the noise.  "Who's there?" he demanded.

            Aragorn, with hands raised, entered the clearing.  "Tis only me, Legolas."

            Legolas exhaled in frustration and lowered his bow.  "Estel, do not do that," he reprimanded wearily.  "I could have easily killed you and then where would we be?" he made a motion in the direction of the camp.

            "I am sorry if I frightened you.  I was simply trying . . ." his voice trailed off for a moment.  "Trying to find where you had gone."  The Dunadain lowered his arms.  His blue eyes flashed momentarily in concern.

            Legolas dropped his eyes.  "I was merely checking the fletching of my arrows.  I would not want them to stray off course in battle."  _As they did last time, _he added silently.

            As if sensing the unspoken thought, Aragorn approached and knelt where the elf prince was working.  "You are an excellent archer, my friend."

            Legolas merely gave him a bitter smile in return and reached for another arrow.  A rough, calloused hand gently grasped his and Legolas' breath caught in his throat.  He turned to find himself very close to Aragorn's face.  

            Words failed Legolas.

            "I heard you singing.  That was a lament for your Elven brethren."  It was a statement, not a question.

            All Legolas could managed was, "Yes."

            "You do right by them to mourn their loss."  Aragorn lowered his eyes in memory.

            _But it's my fault!  My fault!  I should have killed that Uruk-hai!  It's my fault!  _Legolas felt the thoughts rush forward to his mouth.  _No!  No, I will not confess this to Aragorn.  Showing signs of weakness will give him more reason to pity me._  The Mirkwood prince quickly schooled his features into an expressionless mask.

            Aragorn looked back up at elf.  For a moment, he looked into the depths of Legolas' soul and saw the pain, the grief and above all, the guilt.  But Legolas quickly shut him out and maintained his Elven composure.  "Yes, I mourn their loss," Legolas replied.  "But they are surely happy in the Halls of Mandos."

            Aragorn let go of Legolas' hand and stood.  The sudden closure of Legolas' emotions startled him.  "Yes, I am sure you right."  He turned to leave.

            "Wait!"  The words leapt from Legolas' throat—a reaction to his now cold hand.

            Aragorn turned.  "Yes?" he replied, hope rising in his voice.

            Legolas opened his mouth.  He wanted to say, "Don't leave.  Stay."  However, Aragorn's sudden turn had caused the Evenstar to jump out of the man's shirt.  It dangled in the moonlight, hideously taunting the elf.  Legolas closed his mouth and cleared his throat.  "You should sleep, Estel.  You overwork yourself."

            The look of hope vanished from Aragorn's eyes.  "I will.  Thank you."  Then he turned and left.

Translations:

Im hiraetha --  I'm sorry

The lament -- "Ah, warriors who have left this world,

What drove you to leave

That which you loved?

The Valar shines on your beauty,

Your courage and your strength.


End file.
